


Bitter Dreams Made Sweet

by OldEmeraldEye



Category: Downton Abbey
Genre: Concussions, F/F, Miscarriage, Nightmares, Sarah O'Brien is not prone to dwelling on things, Time Travel Fix-It, except when she is
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-01
Updated: 2019-08-01
Packaged: 2020-07-28 14:57:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20065918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OldEmeraldEye/pseuds/OldEmeraldEye
Summary: There is only one thing that Sarah O'Brien truly regrets in her life, one decision that she would sacrifice everything to take back.





	Bitter Dreams Made Sweet

There is only one thing in her life that Sarah O’Brien truly regrets. She knows she is a hard woman, and a sharp one, and the world is hard and sharp too so she lives her life as best she may. Regret is not a feeling she is well acquainted with.

So, cause known not at all, impossible as it is for her to be standing with the words – her words – in her mouth, she knows where she is. When she is. What she has done.

She has had nightmares, waking dreads that send her to her Lady’s work hours before even the scullery maid is up, and each one of them ends the same way. Each time, she does the same thing – the thing she should have done – and each time, her Lady falls.

She doesn’t bother speaking. Her voice won’t be heard and her words won’t make a jot of difference anyway.

She locks eyes with the fool in the mirror – horrible, guilty eyes, eyes she’s had to face for years – and twists back on her heel, moving as if the air was not molasses. She’s too late. She’s always too late, ans her Lady falls, falls to the ground over and over again and she looks so small crumpled on the floor there can be no life in her –

The sharp pain of the floor against her skull is a dizzying relief. Now she’ll wake and put the warm heavy weight of her Ladyship aside another day until its time for her to rest once more.

Softer and warmer than anything she’s ever felt. She doesn’t want to wake. Wants to stay here forever. It's peaceful. She's sleepy.

“O’Brien?”

Blinks open her eyes. When did she close them? Can’t be sleeping on the job or Sarah will never be kept on. There’s her Ladyship now, right in front of her, and her hand on her face. She has very pretty eyes.

"O'Brien, are you alright?"

“M’lady?”


End file.
